Melbourn 1sts earn promotion after being crowned Cambs Squash League Division 2 champions with a game to spare

Melbourn 1sts have been crowned Cambs Squash League Division 2 champions with a game to spare after cruising to victory against Peterborough 3rds.

The visitors were under-strength and travelled with only four players after illness forced the late withdrawal of one team member.

That gave Melbourn a one string advantage to start the evening, and they soon added to that when Ed Aspelling (4) won 3-0. Mark Oppen (3) triumphed by the same score, but was made to work hard for it as two of his three games needed tie-breaks to settle them.

The walkover and the two wins gave Melbourn victory and left them needing just three games from the top two strings to claim the 17 points needed for the title.

It was never in doubt, with Matt Sampson (1) and Vinod Duraikan (2) unbeaten all season and they duly eased to another 3-0 win. Sampson retained his pristine record of winning every match he has played - 11 - without dropping a single game and the ever-present Duraikan making it a personal 15/15 with his 12th straight games success.

Promotion means Melbourn make an immediate return to Division 1 and they re-enter the top flight believing they are a significantly stronger outfit than in the pre-pandemic relegation season.

Skipper Oppen said: “It was an excellent 20-0 win for us, which got the points we needed for the 2nd division title. It was unfortunate Peterborough's team were weaker than they would have liked, but the squash was still competitive on the night.”